In his hunt for reelection, Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker is leading his Democratic opponent Mary Burke, according to a new poll released Monday.

The Marquette Law School poll has the Republican governor ahead 47 to 41 percent among registered voters. The same poll has 54 percent of respondents saying the state is heading in the right direction, compared to 40 percent who say it is not.

With the election still nine months away, Burke will have to play catch up to familiarize voters with her stance on issues; 70 percent of respondents say they have not heard enough about her to hold an opinion of her.

Walker was first elected to the governor’s mansion in Madison in 2010. He faced a contentious and expensive recall effort in 2012 that captured national attention, and was fueled in large part by anger over sweeping legislation he signed curbing the collective bargaining powers of public unions in the state.

Walker won that election against Democratic rival Tom Barrett with 53 percent of the vote to Barrett’s 46 percent.

The poll of 802 registered voters was conducted Jan. 20 to Jan. 23 and has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.5 percentage points.